US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would try to go to Egypt for the signing of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
"I'm going to try and make a trip over. We're going to try and get over there, and we're working on the timing, the exact timing," Trump said at a cabinet meeting.
Trump added that hostages held in the Palestinian territory would be released on "Monday or Tuesday" and said that the deal had "ended the war in Gaza."
His announcement came after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their devastating two-year war and the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Under the terms, Hamas reportedly intends to release all living hostages in a matter of days, while the Israeli military will begin a withdrawal from the majority of Gaza.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Trump in a phone call that he "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize" for bringing about the deal to end the war in Gaza.
He invited Trump to "participate in the celebration to be held in Egypt to mark the conclusion of the agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” the first phase of which has been signed during talks in Egypt.
The statement from Sisi's office said the president "stressed the need to move forward toward implementing the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip in all its stages.”
